Hood latch



lJune ll, 1940. A. E. PETERSON l .42,203,875

noon Luca Filed July 9, 195s s sheets-sheet 2 i June 11,` 1940.

Filed July 9. 193s A; E. PETERSON 2,

Hoon Luca 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ennnnnnnnnm'n Vega/02472 @yg n Patented June l1, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT fori-ice cago Forging di Manufacturing Co., lli., a corporation of Illinois Chicago,

Application July 9, 1938, Serial No. 218,375

3 Claims.

My invention relates to hood latches for automotive vehicles and the like, and has for one object to provide a new and improved form of hood latch wherein automaticV auxiliary means 5 are provided in cooperation with the manually controlled means for preventing or limiting the opening of the vehicle hood.

Another object oi' my invention is to provide auxiliary locking means which prevent limited lil opening of the vehicle hood and to provide for such auxiliary means a manually disengagement means accessible to the operator only after a partial opening of the hoo Other objects of the invention will appear from mi time to time in the specification.

My invention is especially adapted for use in connection with that type of vehicle hood which is hinged at a point hack of the front end of the vehicle, the hinged axis being generally transga verse to the vehicle axis, and wherein the hood latch and the means for manipulating are located at the front of the vehicle. Y

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the acco panying drawings,

as wherein:

f Figure l is a side elevation in part section of the hood latch and associated parts.`

Figure 2 is an elevation of part of the latch control mechanism looking in the direction of the a@ arrows on Figure l.

Figure 3 is a section similar to, Figure 1 on an enlarged scale. v

Figure 4 is a detail part section along the line l-d' of Figure 3.

3g Figure 5 is a section along-the line 5 5 of Figure 4 with parts in diilerent position.

Figure 6 is a section somewhat similar to section 3 showing a modified form.

Like parts are indicated by like characters in 40 the drawings. .Referring to the drawings, l is an automobile frame. 2 is a fender'. 31s the grill enclosing the front of the engine. Il is the side panel of the engine housing, which may form a rearward extension'of the grill. 5 is the hood 45 pivoted at 6 at its rear end on a hinge extending transversely of the vehicle and supported on the side panels 4. 'l is the vehiclebumper. 8 is an ornamental handle on the hood. 8 is a latch supporting frame or'plate extending across between 50 the side panels 4 and the grill 3. This frame is fixed in position, and terminates short of the front of the grill. Depending downwardly from the frame 9 is a stirrup I0. Il is a hood lifting plunger, slidable in the stirrup and the` frame 9.

gli I2 is a hood lifting spring encircling the plunger H and abutting at one end on the stirrup I0, at the other end on a washer I3 'rigidly mounted on the plunger. it is the head of the plunger il and is adapted to engage a plate l5 which extends 'across the underside of the hood5 and supports a at either end latch abutments I6, having inclined latch members il. These abutments are adapted to penetrate apertures i8 at either end of the frame 9.

`il is a handle supporting bracket mounted on 10 the rear side of the grill 3. Pivoted in it, is a latch handle rockshait 2i, which carries on its outer end a latch handle 22 masked by the bumper l. Rigidly mounted on the rear end of the rockshaft ti is a latch lever 23, having an extension id lug "iii, its movement being limited between the stops 2h and it on the bracket 2th -277 is a connecting rod pivoted at one end on the lever 23 and terminating in an eyelet 28. it is a tension spring anchored at one end on the frame 9 and gg at the other end on the connecting rod 271. it is the latch crank mounted for rotation in bearing iii on each side of an aperture 32 in the frame il. The central offset portion t3 of the crank 3G is engaged by the eyelet it. The two outer ends gg of the crank 3d terminate in latch arms it, which are adapted, when the hood is in the closed position, to engage the latch members il to lock thehood in closed position. This is shown in Figures 2 and 3 where the parts are shown in locked poan sition. In this position a line joining the points of a connection of the rod f2l with the crank 23 and the crank 33 is to the right of the center of rotation of the rockshaft 2i so that the tension on the rod 2l holds the parts in stable locked as position with the lug 2H against the stop 25.

When the lever 23 and connecting vrod 21 are in the position shownin dotted lines in Figure 2, the rod 21 is held up by the spring 29 and the latch crank-30 is yieldingly helddn the unlocked 40' position shown in Figure 5. The spring 29 thus tends to always hold the latch crank in the full unlocked position except when the latch is fully locked.

The purpose of the spring I2 and plunger Il 45 is to raise the hood slightly when it is unlocked so as to permit the operator to put his hand beneath the hood to raise it into a full open position.

Advantage is taken of the fact that the operator 50 must use his hand to raise the hood to provide means for controlling the automatic hood latch. 40 is a supporting plate on the under side of the hood extendingacross the front thereof andimmediately behind that part of the hood which yieldably rotate the latch hook 43 in a counterclock-wise direction as viewed in,Figures 3 and 5 so as to yieldably maintain the hook in such position that it will always engage the flange 45 if the hood is lifted accidentally. 4I isla stop yoke mounted on the bracket 4| to limit the inward movement 'of the auxiliary hook.

Extending forwardly from the hook 43 is a handle piece 41 normally parallel with the plate 4l)y but so positioned with respect to that plate that the operator when he puts his hand under the hood to lift it will rotate the plate and swing the auxiliary latch into the inoperative position shown in dotted lines in Figure 5 to permit open-v ing of the hood.

' 'I'he solid lines shown to the left of Fig. 5 show the parts as they would be if the positive operated latch let go and wind pressure resulting from the forward movement of the vehicle would lift the hood to a point where the auxiliary latching would engage. In normal operation when the positive latch is released, the auxiliary latch hook 43 hangs freely and the hood 5 is raised by the plunger head I5, and the auxiliary latch 43 may be easily swung back to released position. i

In the modified form shown in Figure 6 everything is the same except for the means for operating the main latch. In this case there is a bracket 50 on the inside of the grill 3. lIn this bracket there is a pivot pin 5! which carries a` U shaped lever 52, the longer arm extending outwardly through a slot 53 in the grill and terminating'in a hand piece 54. 'The lever is pivoted at the end of the short arm of the U. 55 is a coil spring associated with the bracket 50, the

'pin 5| and the lever 52 adapted yieldably to Arotate the lever in a clock-wise direction into the dotted line or open position 56 is a push rod pivoted at 51 on the .lever 52 and at its other end on theoi set portion 58 of the latch crank 30. The angular portion of the latch engaging arms 59 and the offset part 58 is somewhat different than they arms 34 of the offset 33 so that in the form shown in Figure 6 the latch is held in the locked position by the toggle oaction of -compression member 56 and the short arm of the lever. To unlock, thehandle 54 must be rotated in a clockwise direction to bring 51 to the right of the'line joining pins 5I and 58. under which circumstances the spring 55 will normally completely open the latch, bringing the handle 54 up into the dotted line position.

While the normallycontrolled positive rotating means when released is held normally in the unopened position and altogether out of register f with the "1mb abutment means on the hood-thus yinsuring that the latch will not accidentally get into the locking position when its opposite abutment is absent. nevertheless to guard against improper manipulation of the lock, if the latch member 34 is in the locking position before the hood is closed the latch member will engage the under edge CII of the latch abutment and so prevent closing of the hood. If on the other hand, the hood is partially closed when an eil'ort is made to operate the handle latch, one of two things will happen. Either the member 34 will engage the surface I1 and cam the hood completely closed, or else the member 34 will engage the inclined edge 5| of the latch abutment and force the hood open as the member 34 passes down to its normal rotating position. In either case the operator will have vample warning and notice of the fact that the latch has not operated to lock the hood in closed position.

I claim:

1.`In a safety catch for automobile hoods, a latch member within the hood, means for normally urging said latch member to securing position, and manual means, inaccessible to the operator when the hood is closed, for moving said latch member to release position when the hood is partly open including a member adapted forl actuation in response to the movement of the hand of the operator in the normal act of lifting the hood.

2. In a safety catch for automobile hoods, a latch member within the hood, yielding means for urging it normally to securing position, stop means for limiting its movement and for holding it fixed at a predetermined position, and a handle member adapted, when lengaged by the hand'of the operator, to move the latch member, against said yielding means, to release position, said handle member being positioned adjacent and within the edge of the hood, and being adapted to be contacted by the operators hand in the normal act of lifting the hood, the handle member being inaccessible to the operator when the hood isin closed position.

3. In association with a pivoted hood section adapted to be secured in closed position by a primary latch mechanism, a secondary safety catch comprising an interiorly mounted element normally inaccessible from the exterior when the hood is closed andv adapted to become operative to retain the hood in partially open position upon release of the primary latch mechanism, and including a catch portion and'a manipulating part which, when exposed, may be operated from the pivot.

ARTHUR E. PETERSON. 

